BJP plans action against rebels after Datia bypoll loss

Datia / New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faced a significant setback in the Datia Assembly bypoll in Madhya Pradesh, losing the seat to the Congress after its decision to replace veteran MLA Narottam Mishra sparked internal rebellion and raised questions about party discipline.

The BJP's decision to replace veteran MLA Narottam Mishra with a new candidate in the Datia bypoll resulted in a defeat, with the Congress retaining the seat by over 6,000 votes.

The move triggered an unprecedented backlash from Mishra's supporters, including highway blockades, vandalism, and clashes with police, severely denting the BJP's image as a disciplined party.

Political analysts view the defeat as a significant setback for the entire BJP machinery, challenging its claims of cadre loyalty and leadership efficacy.

Madhya Pradesh BJP president Hemant Khandelwal has stressed the paramount importance of discipline, hinting at potential action against those who violated party lines on candidate selection.

The bypoll loss increases the Congress's tally to 65 in the 230-member Assembly, while the BJP holds 164 seats.
 
The Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to replace 6-time MLA Narottam Mishra with a rookie in the Datia Assembly bypoll in Madhya Pradesh failed to pay off, with the Congress retaining the seat and the BJP indicating possible disciplinary action against those who defied the central leadership's choice of candidate.

According to political analysts, the BJP's defeat in the July 30 bypoll, whose result was announced on Monday, was not just a loss of one Assembly seat for the ruling outfit in Madhya Pradesh, but a huge setback for the entire party machinery.

Opposition Congress's candidate Ghanshyam Singh defeated BJP nominee Ashutosh Tiwari by 6,016 votes in the bypoll.

The Genesis of the Rebellion : The bypoll was necessitated after a Delhi court in April this year sentenced sitting Congress MLA from Datia, Rajendra Bharti, to three years' imprisonment in a cheating case, resulting in the termination of his Assembly membership.

The BJP's decision to deny a ticket to Mishra, one of its prominent regional leaders, triggered an unprecedented backlash in Datia, his home district.

Mishra has won three Assembly elections from Dabra (Gwalior district) and as many from Datia in his decades-long political career.

On July 10-11, hundreds of supporters of the former state home minister blocked a key highway in Datia for more than 12 hours, vandalised property and clashed with police, leaving the district superintendent of police and several other cops injured.

Party sources said it was the first in more than a decade that the BJP had witnessed an open rebellion against a candidate chosen by its central leadership, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, a state that has produced some of the party's stalwarts, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, ex-MP Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia and former party president Kushabhau Thakre.

They said the state unit had forwarded Mishra's name as its sole recommendation to the central leadership.

However, after internal surveys and feedback, the central leadership chose Tiwari, a rookie, who eventually lost, they added.

The decision caught Mishra's supporters by surprise as he had been campaigning in the constituency for weeks, anticipating re-nomination from the seat which he lost in the 2023 polls to Congress candidate Bharti by more than 7,000 votes.

After the violence subsided, Mishra appealed to his supporters to accept the party's decision and work for the BJP candidate Tiwari.

Senior BJP leaders pointed out that the party has traditionally accepted decisions of its central leadership without public dissent.

They cited the example of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the BJP's longest-serving chief minister in any state, who calmly accepted his replacement by one-time cabinet colleague Mohan Yadav despite leading the saffron party to a landslide victory in the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.

Political analyst and senior journalist Rakesh Dixit noted the BJP's defeat was not just a loss of one Assembly seat for the ruling party.

Instead, it was a huge setback for the entire party machinery which never tires of boasting about its cadres' loyalty and leaders' efficacy in influencing voters, Dixit maintained.

With this win, the Congress tally in the 230-member Assembly has gone up to 65.

The BJP has 164 MLAs, while one legislator belongs to a tribal political outfit.

The denial of ticket from the seat to Mishra, a powerful BJP politician, and its aftermath have deeply dented the long-cultivated image of the saffron outfit as a disciplined party, Dixit opined.

Shocked over the last-minute replacement from the Datia seat by a novice party man, Mishra's supporters went on a rampage.

By the time the state leadership managed to pacify the anguished supporters, damage to the BJP's reputation had been done, the political analyst noted.

Mishra's show of tears and choked voice at a public meeting that was called to send out a message of solidarity in the cadres failed to impress voters.

This was most glaringly evident in the fact that Congress candidate Singh won in Mishra's own polling booth.

Following the bypoll defeat, Madhya Pradesh BJP president Hemant Khandelwal stressed that discipline remained paramount in the organisation.

This statement was seen in political circles as signalling possible action against those responsible for defying the party line on candidate selection.

"The BJP humbly accepts the mandate given by the voters. We will review the results, and based on the conclusions of that review, the party will decide its future strategy," Khandelwal said.

Every BJP worker, irrespective of the position he or she held, was expected to function within the party's discipline, he emphasised.

"For the Bharatiya Janata Party, discipline is supreme. Every party worker, regardless of the post they hold, is expected to work within the party's discipline. If anyone is found guilty (of violating discipline), appropriate action will certainly be taken against them," cautioned Khandelwal, who took charge of his post just a year ago.

Dixit added, "This is a tacit admission that the BJP suffered the humiliation owning to sabotage. Needle of suspicion unmistakable points to Mishra, given his supporters' revolt in run-up to the campaign."

What action follows the party's review is bound to reverberate in the state BJP.

For, Mishra is a powerful leader in the Gwalior-Chambal region with substantial following.

The BJP has governed Madhya Pradesh almost continuously since 2003, except for 15 months between December 2018 and March 2020 when a Congress government led by party veteran Kamal Nath was in office.